Sue G in PA wrote:Here is my dilemma. I have a 4yo and a 6yo that I will be homeschooling this year. My 4 olders are going back to ps for a myriad of reasons...not the least of which is I must focus on my 6yo son who is having some "issues". Anyway, ds6 is a bit behind for his age. He knows his letters/sounds and is just beginning to read CVC words. He is certainly not ready for MFW 1st yet. However, MFWK, as it is written, is too easy. Should I just use a modified schedule and move more quickly through the units with him? Please help me figure this out!

Hi Sue!

The 6 y.o can go through it quicker. There's a tiny note in the manual on how to use K for the "first trimester of first grade". Basically, you're doing 2-3 days worth in 1 day and skip some of the activities in the science themes.

My oldest didn't even begin K until he was fully 6 years old (public school), with no academic preparation before that. He's 25 now and a working engineer. Waiting only helped him -- school was easy and he was more ready for the sitting/writing that it required.

My youngest knew how to read before he started K (public school). He was basically told to read books while the class had their lessons. I wish we had realized that he was missing some important instruction. I wish they would have just taken him through the K reading program, because he still struggles with alphabetical order & such.

I applaud you for taking your son through the level he needs to be at. And I'd give your ds another year before you decide whether he's "behind."

As a mom with a 6yo who's just now going all the way through MFW K, I agree completely with Julie and Crystal. First of all, don't worry about whether he's "behind". Just teach him at the level where he needs to be. He'll get there. Kids between ages 4 and 6, or even 7, can vary a LOT when it comes to learning to read.

As far as taking K at a quicker pace, we're doing exactly what Crystal posted. In the beginning (first week of July) we went even faster than that... did a letter a day for the first week and a half or so, then slowed down to 2 or 3 lessons (about half a week's worth) each day, skipping a lot of the activities. She's doing some of the science stuff in ECC with her sisters, anyway, so she's not missing out completely. But she's reading cvc words now and doing great!

Btw, welcome to the board!

Donna, with two MFW graduates and the "baby" in 11th grade! Using MFW since 2004.

Just another reply from someone who used K "late" with a 6 yo boy. He did great! We did the first trimester thing that Crystal was talking about -- except we took more like a semester or maybe even a bit more. Then on to mfw 1st. We just did the whole thing at his pace, some weeks went quickly, some weeks he needed me to slow down. He is now going into 3rd and doing very well.

mommy to four boys & two girls... and another boy on the way
completed K, 1st, ADV, ECC, CTG and RTR
2009--2010 Enjoying Exploration to 1850

Thanks for all the encouragement and advice. I really do appreciate it. I want so much for this child to feel successful, b/c so often he is frustrated and feels like he can't do anything right. We are always encouraging him and praising his efforts and successes, but he is one of those more negative kids. Anyway, it doesn't help that dd4 knows as much or more than he does in the area of phonics instruction and reading.

bluedotsmom wrote:Due to family illnesses, we did not really even start MFW K last year for my son (6 yrs old.) I would like to modify it to a "crash" course and then move on to the next level, but I'm not sure how?

He is not reading yet, but is picking it up, so that part seems way to slow for him at this stage.

Has anyone done this? Do you have a lesson plan you can share? Any ideas would be greatly appreciated!!!
Anne

We just completed "summer school" 2 days a week. My dd is 5 1/2 and has only completed the first 6 units but I can tell you what we have been doing.

The TM also suggested this for older kids. Over the summer we completed 1 unit a week in K. Days 1-3 as listed in the TM we did on day 1 and days 4-6 as listed in the TM we did on day 2. We modified where needed. i.e. only doing the "A-a-Apple Song" once a week, etc. During the official school year I plan do the same thing but complete two units a week instead of 1 and leave Friday for extra reading, nature walks, etc. My goal is to start MFW 1st in January. If we stay on schedule we will probably finish K in early Nov but I might stretch a couple of units out.

My dd's b-day is in February and she had already completed a lot of K stuff. But I decided to go with K and double or triple the lessons to make sure she didn't miss anything and I plan to start her with 1st in Jan if she's ready.

So this is what we are doing. You could also do the same or you could just start the next unit on Friday or whatever day it falls on and keep on going until you are finished. In other words do the first unit (sun) on a Monday and Tuesday, do the second unit (moon) on Wednesday and Thursday and do the third unit (leaf) on Friday and Monday, etc. Either way I think you could be finished with K either in November or December.

If you find your ds needs to take it a little slower the TM also suggests completing a unit every three days instead of two. In other words do days 1 and 2 as listed in the TM on day 1, do days 3 and 4 as listed in the TM and do days 5 and 6 on day 3.

I hope my post isn't too wordy and makes sense and I hope it helps.

Tammie - Wife to James for 27 years
Mom to Justin (15) and Carissa (12)
ADV & K 2009-2010 . . . RTR (again) & WHL 2016-2017http://tammiestime.blogspot.com/The days of a mother are long but the years are short.

momofsix wrote:Has anyone picked up the pace by skipping worksheets or combining days? My son is bored with the repition & pace. He is bright and I think it would be fine to combine days & skip some of the songs, etc. Any other ideas for picking up the pace? Thanks

another option is to just say you'll do it for 5 minutes and then spend more time on the Bible/science lessons and even try a few other things with ideas on the Kindy ideas forum. That way you'll have some other fun things to look forward to.

Some ideas are as simple as adding variety in how you do the sheets --- do they want to use markers instead of a pencil, colored pencils instead of gray? Use Bingo dapper (dot makers) to do something with the sound discrimination pages.

Now, if it is an older than traditional age Kindy child and you are using MFW K as a first trimester of first grade.... then you do take 2 or 3 days to do one letter unit and maybe skip or combine some of the activities in the science section.

I haven't used K, but I do adjust our pace lots of times. The biggest thing is to remember that you can slow back down whenever you need to. Later in the year, you might wonder why you feel rushed and say, "Oh yeah, I'm going fast and I don't have to!"

Now, if it is an older than traditional age Kindy child and you are using MFW K as a first trimester of first grade.... then you do take 2 or 3 days to do one letter unit and maybe skip or combine some of the activities in the science section.

I think this best describes us. DS picks up the lessons like a breeze & remembers it too, just think we need to pick up the pace to keep him going. His favorite things are the blend ladder days & the reading word list page. We're on lesson 12.

We've "picked up the pace" with our son. We only do school 3-4 days a week (other commitments take up time on other days, so we didn't feel we needed to do more). Today he did all his worksheets in 10 minutes (days 1 and 2 of Lesson 9). We supplement with some things, but I do all the phonics exercises, even if it is review. The crafts and other "fun" things get done, sometimes in the afternoon. We're only on Lesson 9, but we started in mid-October. He usually wants more to do. I am really liking the program, and we enjoy the pace and the ability to explore other interests and read more books. (I should mention that we did a full year of another K program last year with him, so we knew this would be review!)

Wife to the best
Mom to ds (6), dd (5), dd (3), and ds (4 months)
MFW K and 1st

leeandrea wrote:I am so sure I saw somewhere, I thought on the MFW website, a plan for going through the MFW K program quickly in the beginning of 1st grade. I can't find it now. Maybe it was here? If anyone knows what I'm talking about, please direct me It's probably right in front of me

Thank you so very much!
Lee

http://board.mfwbooks.com/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=8087
I know what you are talking about and this is what I found. It's not what I remember reading but it does talk about it some, I'll keeping looking. I am planning to go a little faster too. Play it by ear, we may have too much fun to speed up

leeandrea wrote:Thank you Martie. I keep seeing references to notes in the manual, but I can't find them. Maybe that's an older version being referenced? Your links were very helpful. Thanks again!

Lee

It is not a full schedule, so it is possible that you are seeing them and not realizing it.

I'm doing this without the manual in front of me... so I don't know the page numbers.
Go to the page in Kindy manual that has the daily math routine. Look in the section right above the part where the math starts.
You'll see a tiny (not a full schedule) sentence or two that suggests doing 2-3 lesson days per calendar day in order to use Kindy during the 1st trimester of 1st grade.

In other words, do 3 lesson days per 1 calendar day. Omit some of the activities based on your preferences.

I have this year's k tm. The only reference I found was on pg12 and it's only a sentence long (end of first par). "However....a pace of 2 to 3 days per lesson is recommended..."
The message board may be more helpful as others have shared what they have done and how it has worked for them.

HTH

Martie
Married to Nathan 15 years
Mom to 8 boys ages 12 to newborn
Have used Kindergarten to Modern

Thank you both. I see it now. I guess I must have subconsciously filled in details that were never there. This will be my first year using MFW, and with all my "research," I think I'm suffering from information overload

jbragg wrote:I just got MFW K in the mail today. Now I'm trying to wrap my brain around how to do K at a faster pace for my daughter for the start of 1st and do Adventures with my son at the same time. Would I be doing only the yellow part that is the reading plan or do I do the yellow and white pages both? I had planned on including her with Adventures and got her the students sheets. She can't wait to start them and has already been looking at the state cards and deciding which birds are her favorite. Would I be loosing a lot if I only did the yellow pages with her? I haven't had a huge amount of time to look through the TM yet because we are having VBS at our church this week. I'm also not feeling so great so my mind just isn't grasping how to do it. Any thoughts, ideas or experiences would be really helpful. Thanks.
Jen

Is she reading? How much phonics has she had? Has she done any math? Since you are mentioning the yellow pages I am thinking that she needs all of the above. If so, yes, you would for sure do all of the yellow pages and the math.

The white pages are the science, Bible, fun hands on activities, & character traits that go with each letter being studied. For example, when you are studying H on the yellow pages on the white pages you are studying the character trait - I obey right away. The animal for H is a horse. I am not remembering exactly what Bible verses or science or games go with it.

You have a few choices. You could do all the yellow pages & math & I think I would include the Bible verses and character trait as well (days one and two for that letter on the white pages). Then you could pick and choose from the rest of the white page activities if you are planning to include her on listening to the readings in ADV, participating in the science of ADV, doing ADV hands on activities, and having her color the ADV sheets. If she is doing the yellow pages in K you would definitely skip the writing/summary parts of ADV for her.

I bought the ADV sheets too for my ds6 & dd4. I am so so glad that I did! I have them color with big brother while I read, and then have them skip the writing/narration/summary sentence part. They also are joining in for ADV science & hands on activities. They usually can not make it through ADV Bible time though (too much discussion for their attention spans), but they can make it through Bible of MFW1.

Hi Carin thanks for your response. She is 6 and used the Sonlight K LA last year. She is struggling to remember letter sounds and blending hasn't totally clicked for her yet and her letter formation needs work. I decided to do K at a faster pace for the beginning of her 1st grade year instead of jumping right into MFW 1 to build up her phonics.

She has done the first Book of Horizons K math which wasn't a great fit for her so we are going to try Miqoun this year. I didn't realize that the yellow pages had Math in it. I was only seeing the reading plan. I was trying to figure it out with medicine head so I haven't been able to totally wrap my mind around it all. Thanks for your thoughts. Jen

Although there is a little bit of math worksheet involved in the yellow pages, most of the math is right before that section. I'd encourage you to do the regular math as well as a concrete way to learn place value among other skills. The yellow pages math include handwriting from "day 2" activities as well as "number cup" from "day 3", which also involves some handwriting practice with numerals. I'd suggest you do them even though you are doing another math program. It will not take long, the worksheets are there.... it's low key, lower stress.... they don't have to "draw" on day 3, you can use stickers, or bingo markers. keep it fun.

If you are using mfw K at fast pace for first trimester or so of a child's first grade school year, take a look at the section titled "Lesson Information". In my old manual that's page 12. A pace of 2 or 3 days per lesson is recommended in which case you will need to omit some of the activities from the "white pages".

Right after that section is the regular math. Again, given how little time that takes and it has wonderful hands on learning benefits, I'd take the 5 minutes to do those kindy math daily activities, even if you are using Miquon this year. It will really help with laying a foundation for math with place value.

So, do you have to do the white pages activities at all? Well, maybe not if your child is involved in the activities and Bible in ADV with older siblings. That way you can use the phonics portion of Kindy, then later in the year 1st grade, and get the rest from ADV. If you have time, energy, and interest, doing some of the Kindy activities could be fun, and "dessert". But yes, for younger sib in Kindy, you can do just the yellow pages and daily math in my limited opinion.

cbollin wrote:
If you are using mfw K at fast pace for first trimester or so of a child's first grade school year, take a look at the section titled "Lesson Information". In my old manual that's page 12. A pace of 2 or 3 days per lesson is recommended in which case you will need to omit some of the activities from the "white pages".

Right after that section is the regular math. Again, given how little time that takes and it has wonderful hands on learning benefits, I'd take the 5 minutes to do those kindy math daily activities, even if you are using Miquon this year. It will really help with laying a foundation for math with place value.

I wanted to second Crystal on taking the time for the Kinder math this year. I had my first grader last year do his first grade math and his brother's K math from MFW. It helped bring in some foundation & understanding that he didn't have from doing Horizon Math for K. I am now having him participate a little in some of the MFW1 math for the same reason; there are some elements that MFW K & 1 math bring in that he missed in the work books that we did.

I remember your past threads now! I think it is great that you are going to take her through MFWK phonics. It would have been really good if my oldest had done the same thing when we made that transition. Like Crystal wrote the manual does have some instruction to speed up for first graders. With a 6 year old I don't think she would have any problems doing 2 or 3 phonics days at a time; but if she does you can always go at the pace written. This does mean though that you would pick and choose from the white pages since you are accelerating the yellow pages. My favorite part of the white pages was the character traits that go with each letter, the Bible verses that we read, and the read-aloud books. I am sure though that favorites all vary between each of us.

Thanks. I did find that spot in the TM and it is still on page 12. I'm finally starting to get the idea on how to make this work. I think it will be good for her to do the math as well. I just didn't want her to be overwhelmed by more Math, but as I have been looking at the suggestions in the TM I think she would enjoy them. I also want to make the Bible connection with the letter she is learning. The more I look at the TM the more I wish I had used MFW last year instead of what we went with...this looks like so much more fun.

I was thinking about maybe doing some of it for fun this summer with both of the kids, but I don't know that my son will go along with it. He's only 7 so I think he would still have fun with the science and projects I just wont be able to let on that it is school. He'd protest loudly to think that we were doing school on summer break. Unfortunately he doesn't think that school can be fun, but I'm hoping that will change when we do Adventures this year.

jbragg wrote:The more I look at the TM the more I wish I had used MFW last year instead of what we went with...this looks like so much more fun.

I have felt the same way coming from the same place....MFW K would have been so much fun for K, and as a first start to home schooling.

jbragg wrote:I was thinking about maybe doing some of it for fun this summer with both of the kids, but I don't know that my son will go along with it. He's only 7 so I think he would still have fun with the science and projects I just wont be able to let on that it is school. He'd protest loudly to think that we were doing school on summer break. Unfortunately he doesn't think that school can be fun, but I'm hoping that will change when we do Adventures this year.
Thanks again for you help. Jen

The activities in K are written for 3 - 8, according to the catalogue; so they are activities that a 7 year old can enjoy. My oldest was 7 last year when I was doing K with his brother, and he always enjoyed jumping in to his K activities.

My oldest had an 'attitude' about school for awhile too when we first came to MFW. It took time, but once the 'over load' really went away with MFW and enough time passed I can bring school out (like I did this morning) without any complaints. Last summer he would have groaned if school came out in the summer, and loudly protested. This summer we are doing 2 days a week and it is fun. It took awhile for the over-stimulation/over-load to wear off. Once it did school has been great! My dd6 & dd4 have only known MFW, and they both have great attitudes about school. Enjoy!

gratitude wrote:My favorite part of the white pages was the character traits that go with each letter, the Bible verses that we read, and the read-aloud books. I am sure though that favorites all vary between each of us.

I really want to do the character traits and Bible verses with her. You can never have too much character building and Bible. I'm really looking forward to using the K program with her. I think it is just what she needs in so many ways. She just doesn't catch on to things as fast as my son did and I'm seeing that as he breezes through things she is going to need more of my one on one time.

You give me hope Carin. Maybe some day my son wont complain about school. I felt the relief of using MFW as the over load lifted when we switched part way through the year. My hope is that he starts to feel that too. As I have been looking at Adventures I've been getting more and more excited about it. It looks like a lot of fun. I feel so blessed to have found MFW. It has been such a breath of fresh air for me.

I just wanted to let you know that, even if you double up on K, both programs are very doable together.

When my dd was in K my ds was in 3rd and doing ADV. At the beginning of the year I doubled up on K, doing 2 units a week alongside of ADV. I actually started my dd with the K program two days a week over that summer starting with the a-A-Apple unit to help me get into the swing of using MFW. (I started my ds with a little math and LA. He wasn't big on 'school' either but he got over it. ) When we officially started school that fall I went back and did the Creation section with both dc as we eased into a 5 day a week schedule. I then went back to the K unit we left off with. I hope that makes sense. I slowed K down later in the year because it was officially her K year and I decided not to rush her though it just to get to 1st.

That year we did all of K and all of ADV, unless it didn't fit my family or we had a particularly busy day/week, and we still had time at the end of the day. Both my dc loved the activities in the white pages and they both loved the activities in ADV as well. As Crystal suggested, you can just do the yellow pages and add in some of the other activities as time or interest allows. HTH

Tammie - Wife to James for 27 years
Mom to Justin (15) and Carissa (12)
ADV & K 2009-2010 . . . RTR (again) & WHL 2016-2017http://tammiestime.blogspot.com/The days of a mother are long but the years are short.

far above rubies wrote:This is my 2nd time through K and my dd6 is starting to lose ground. My first child was only 5 when we did K, and we found it moved too fast but with this child, she's losing ground. We need to pick it up a notch or two. We're just wrapping up the "T" (yes, we're obviously going very slowly! LOL) We took off a week at Thanksgiving and a couple of weeks for Christmas.

Basically, I have a dd who is very flighty, has an incredibly short attention span, is extremely artsy, grows bored incredibly fast, etc. Last year, we all did ADV together, but this year I chose not to include her in ECC. She looks forward to doing her school, but after about 5 or 10 minutes, she is DONE!!! In fact, before we even finish a worksheet, she asks, "Are we done yet? Is it much longer"? You'd think that one worksheet is just killing her!

And she likes to follow her own path. If instructions state to color something a specific color, she will ignore those instructions if she wants to do something differently. So, my thought was that using a hands-on curriculum for my extremely short-attention spanned daughter would be good, but now I'm thinking we need to approach it in a totally different way. It isn't a situation in which she needs more discipline or anything. She doesn't act this way because she's trying to be defiant or anything, she's just really, really, really creative.

She has the names and sounds of the letters down but it seems as though we can only get through 10 minutes at a time but by the next day, I can't tell if she's grasped any of it at all. I thought of perhaps doing two lessons a day--one in the morning and then another in the afternoon?

When we start back up in January, how would y'all recommend we proceed? Two letters a week? Not do every single worksheet? Focus on sounds? Any thoughts? All I know is that we gotta pick up some momentum or I'm gonna lose this girl's attention.

When my second born went through MFWK blending and then reading was coming easily for him. So we did every worksheet, but I didn't do all the activities in the yellow pages. For the blend ladder he would always want to blend all 5 vowels for each letter that came along, instead of one or two. He did school 3 days a week for K, and I would do one unit a week. If I remember correctly he would do day 6 with day 5. Then days 1 & 2 together, and 3 & 4 together. He was able to do more than one days of work sheets in a sitting. His handwriting was also very good and came easily so it did work to accelerate the program.

So in the end we took a year to do it (I gave him more weeks off than brother), but with less days. I wanted him to ease into school, have a lot of K play-time, and like school. So this schedule worked well for him for K.

She sounds like a really normal 6 year old to me. It is the unusual 6 year old that really and truly is mature enough to sit down and do work. I taught piano for 8 years, and piano lessons tend to draw families that are educated and educationally minded. It also tends to draw children, who often, do well in school. When I first started teaching I had a studio full of 6 & 7 year olds all starting piano. The very small minority could really last 1/2 hour lesson. The rest I creatively got through a 1/2 hour lesson. By the end of my 8 years I didn't take 1st grade students and highly encouraged parents to wait until 2nd grade.

6 year olds can learn. Some are ready for school. The majority. Hmm... not in my experience. I have one right now who is, ds6, and he is my surprise. Often 6 just isn't ready for sit down work. Can you teach her? Of course. Short 5 minute lessons, and as much 'in real' life teaching as possible. I think it is easier to teach a 6 year old to read, then write or play a piano. Even the parents who cried "but my child is 'brilliant, and has an IQ of 145"; had children who didn't have the maturity to sit still at age 6!'

Enjoy her... in 6 months she will be ready, and probably know enough to start mid-1st grade work. In the mean-time, if it were me, I would do math orally and teach her to read & read books to her. Well that is what I did with my oldest who at 6 wasn't ready to sit still and follow book directions due to creativity. It was a good plan for him, and I am glad that I did it. At 8 I have a mature student, so it worked out just fine.